Description
Eriophorum vaginatum
Cotton Grass or Cotton sedge is a common sight on wet, boggy moorland, on acid peat bogs and damp, unimproved meadows. The snow white hairy seed heads stand out against the spring greeny brown of moors. This clump-forming, coarse sedge is tough and tolerant but needs damp or wet ground. Seed isn’t dormant and germinates best at higher temperatures and with light. Don’t cover the seed when sowing. Mow/scythe off occasionally, early in the year. Cotton grass is used in conservation work, to re-establish habitat on old peat workings, but has not been found to aid the establishment of Sphagnum moss, as thought at one time
1,022,581 seeds/kg
Pic shows the seed head and landscape where cotton grass typically grows
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